Portable service station



Fb. 5, 1935. H. T. McGAUGHAN El AL 1,989,940

' PORTABLE SERVICE STATION Filed Feb. 24, 1951 Henry TZMcE'azrgban 07111121122 1?. Banana:

ATTO RNEYS INVENTORS' Patented Feb. s, 1935 UNITED STATES 1.989.949 roa ranns ssnvrcs s'ra'rron Henry' T. McGaughan and William R. Ransom,

7 Pontiac, Mich.

Application February 24, 1931, Serial No. 51'l,898

The present invention pertains to a novel gaso-v line and oil service station of a portable type adapted to be moved to various locations suitin business requirements.

The primary object of the present invention is to devise a gasoline and oil service station which may be conveniently moved from one location to another and thereby serve as a means for testin various comers in different localities to see if the in amount of trade warrants the erection of a permanent station. The device also serves meritoriously in the case of a highway upon which repairs are being made that necessitates the traflic being detoured by way of an otherwise little used road upon which the amount of traflic previous to the detour did not warrant the erection of service stations for by use of the present station a temporary service may be given upon the detour road without incurring undue expense, such as would be incurred in the erection-of a permanent service station.

Another object of the present invention is to devise a gasoline and oil service station for motorists which is formed of sheet metal having a reinforcing crossed members on the bottom thereof facilitating the attachment and easy removal of wheeled trucks inorder that the device may be towed by any suitable tractor-from one location to another. The wheeled trucks are readily resurface or temporary foundation. Tanks and pumps for vending the gasoline are provided, the tanks being constructed and mounted in a separate compartmentwo that they may be removed from the device and buried in the ground in states 1 where such is required by law, the tanks when in the compartment being completely insulated by filling the space'between the walls of the tanks and the walls of the compartment with material such as gypsum plaster. With the above and other ends in view the invention consists in the matters hereinafter set forth and more particularly po nted out in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of the present device, being partly broken away and in cross section;

Fig. 2 is a cross sectionalplan view: Fig. 3 is an end elevation, partly broken away and in cross section;

Fig. 4 is a top planview of the rear wheel supporting truck;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation a front wheel supporting structure. and 1 a I 5 Claims. (01. 280-) Fig. 6 is a fragmentary cross sectional view illustrating the manner in which the vent for removing vapors passes through the roof.

Like characters of reference are employed throughout to designate the corresponding parts. 5

The numeral 1 indicates a sheet metal fioor resting upon a plurality of transversely extending H beams 2. Longitudinally extending channel members 3 are secured to thebottoms of the H beams 2 to hold the latter in their proper relation, and alongitudinal H beam 3' is centrally located and secured in parallel relation to the channels 3. The channel members 3 are preferably secured to the outer ends of the H beams and are enclosed by a down turned marginal flange 4 which serves as a bumper for the automobiles -when the device is resting upon the ground as will presently be described.

Upwardly extending end walls 5 and 6 are provided, the wall 5 being the rear wall and provided with a hinged door 7 formed with ventilating louvers 8. The front wall may be provided with suitable windows. An intermediate vertical wall 9 is provided and is joined to the rear wall 5by the side walls 10 which are spaced from the side of the device as clearly illustrated in Fig. 2. The walls thus form a closed compartment 11 in which gasoline tanks 12 are placed and they also form recesses 13 in which gasoline vending pumps 14 are mounted. The tanks when once placed within the compartment 11 leave a space between the walls of the tank and the walls of the compartment and this space is filled with such material as gypsum plaster. -The tanks 12 are filled by means of the filling pipes 15 which are located 35 directly behind the door '1, ventilating pipes 16 being also provided in the tanks to extend back to a point wherethey can'be connected to a vent pipe 41 mounted upon thereof to extend upwardly a distance above the device such as is required by the statutes in the various states. The pipe 41 may serve as a flag pole or the upper end may be provided with a weather vane or similar ornament to hide the gooseneck trap 42 formed 45 on the upper end of the vent pipe. The lower end of the vent pipe passes through the casing 43, which has a weather protector 44, a fitting 45 being provided on the'extreme lower end of the pipe 41 to facilitate the connection of the vent 50 pipes 16 thereto. v

side walls 1'! Jointhe wall 9 to the wall 6 and thereby form a compartment 18 which may be used for an office into which access may be had by means of the doors 19. In the compartment 18 are provided oil tanks 20, an air compressor 21, a desk 22 and a tool chest 23.

The unit as above described comprises the service station as it restsin any location, it being desirable that suitable beams or a shallow concrete base be provided upon which the longitudinally extending channel members rest. It is, however, as stated above, an object of the present invention to make this device portable and therefore there are provided readily removable wheel supporting trucks which are placed under this device after raising it by means of a suitable jack.

The removable rear wheel supporting truck is illustrated as a unit mm. 4 of the drawing and comprises a pair of spaced H beamszihavingholes 25 to receive bolts in order that the ends of said beams may be attached to the longitudinal channel members 3. The beams 24 are joined together by transverse H beams 26 and the axis 2''! having wheels 28 conventionally mounted thereon itsecured to the beams 26 by means of U bolts 29.

The front wheel supporting unit comprises a pair of H beams 3Q. which extend backwardly be neath thecross members 2 parallel to the channel members 3. The members 30 are provided with flngers 31 which are slipped over the flanges 82 on the H beamsz andabolta-ispassedthroughthe member 30 and through the flange 34. on the transverse channel member 34' and in this manner secure the members 80 to the device in a manner rendering it quickly removable.

Themembers project outwardly in fruit of the floor and converge inwardly as at ssand'secured to the top ofthese members 30 are extension members 86 which support a king pin 3'! through which the front or turning axle so is mounted to support the wheels 89. Suitable linkage-mechanism i0 is provided in conjunction with the front axle to permit the device to be connected to any suitable towing vehicle in order that it may be moved from one location to another, the towing vehicle preferably being one. with a hoisting mechanism thereon to raise the present device in order to remove the wheels therefrom or attach them thereto.

It is apparent from the foregoing that the pres-- ent device is of a portable nature so that it may be moved to various places suiting the requirements of the business. By placing jacks under the device and raising the weight away from the wheels the rear wheel truckmay be removed y simply removing the bolts-from the holes 25. In order to remove the front wheel truck it is'only necessary to remove the bolts 33 and then by slipping the members 30 backwardly a short distance the fingers 81 will disengage the flanges 32. The device may then be lowered until it rests upon the ground surface or upon a suitable foundation.

Although a specific embodiment of the present invention has been illustrated and described it is to be understood that various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims, and such changes are contemplated for it is apparent that it may be used for vending various other kinds of merchandise by changing the floor plan to suit ,the business requirements.

What we claim is:

1. A vehicle'fo to support gasoline tanks and pumps, transverse- 1y extending H beams secured-to the bottom of said platform, channel members secured to said H beams to extend longitudinally relative to said compartments, a wheeled truck bolted to said channel members, a pair of frame members, clips on said'frame members engaging the flanges on said H beams in a manner to removably attach saidframe members to'said H beams, akinlpin supported by said frame members, and a wheel supporting axle mounted on said king pin.

2. A portable gasoline station having a supporting frame structure including a plurality of flanged cross beams, longitudinally extending .beamssecuredtothebottomsofsaidcroesbeams,

a wheeled truck bolted to said longitudinal beams adjacent the rear end thereof, a truck having fingersadaptedtohookovertheflangesoncertain of saideroes beams adjacent the forward end of.

beams secured to the bottoms of said cross beams,

a wheeled truck bolted to said longitudinal beams hunt the rear end thereof, a truck having flngers adapted to hook over the flanges on certain .of said cross beams adjacent the forward end of the device, wheels mounted on said last named truck in a manner to swivel thereon, means for preventing accidental removal of said flngers from said flanges, and means facilitating'the attachme'nt of a towing vehicle to said second named truck.

4. A portable service station comprising a platform adapted to support gasoline tanks and pumps, a plurality of members secured beneath said platform in spaced apart relation and extending transversely relative thereto, members secured to said transverse members and extending lengthwise relative to said platform. a wheeled truck detachably secured to said lengthwise extending members adjacent to one end of said platform, a truck having dirigible wheels, means on said last named truck adapted to be hooked over a plurality of said transverse members, and means for retaining said truck with said first named means in hooked relation to said transverse members.

5. A portable service station comprising a platform adapted to support gasoline tanks and pumps, a plurality of members secured beneath said platform in spaced apart'relation and extending transversely relative thereto, members secured to said transverse members and extending lengthwise relative to said platform, a wheeled truck detachably secured to said lengthwise extending members adjacent to one end of said platform, a truck having dirigible wheels, and means for attaching the same to a towing vehicle, means on said last named truck adapted to be brought into hooked relation with a plurality of said transverse members by movement of said last namedtruckrelativetosaid platform,andmeans' forseeuringsaidiastnamedtruckwithsaid' horgkingmtansinahookedposition.

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' with splat-form adapted 

